Eric's Red Ale
For my first birthday after beginning SheppyBrew, my beer model got me the Bewitched Red Ale w/Mellow Amber brew pack from Mr. Beer. On the next Presidents' day, I used it to make Eric's Red Ale.
The beer has evolved over several batches, but has always been deep-redish amber in color with a heavenly malty flavor. I have been moving it from almost no bitterness to a bit higher on the BU / GU ratio, but it is still more on the malty side of the ratio. It has always run about 5.5 % Alcohol (by volume).
This was one of my favorite beers, and I had planned to make sure I had this "on tap" at all times. Unfortunately, I let myself go quite a long time without brewing it.
Malty goodness. Yummy beer.
I decided to retire Eric's Red with Mr. Beer ingredients, and make myself an all-grain recipe for this beer. I already had Quarter Life Crisis, but Eric's Red AG is less hoppy. This AG version is more of an Irish Red, although probably a bit more hop flavor and bitterness than you would usually associate with an Irish red (not by much).
Batch 7 was my first all-grain batch. It used Maris Otter, Carared , Chocolate Rye Malt, and Crystal and Columbus hops. Its yeast was US05.
Batch 8, was the same as 7 except is used London Ale Yeast.
Batch 9, I threw in Citra hops at the 5-minute flavor / aroma addition. Not very Irish, but pretty yummy nonetheless. I tried White Labs' WLP004 Irish Ale yeast for the first time. I also decided to add a bit of chalk to bring the water calcium up to help with clarity of the beer.
Batch 11 was brewed in my Anvil Foundry.
You can read about Eric's Red on my blog: http://blog.ericshepard.com/search/label/Eric%27s%20Red
| Eric's Red --- Batch 11 |
| Style | American Amber Ale | Batch Size | 6.00 gal | |||
| Type | All Grain | Boil Size | 6.94 gal | |||
| Brewhouse Efficiency | 68.00 | Boil Time | 60 minutes |
Recipe Characteristics
| Recipe Gravity | 1.053 SG | Estimated FG | 1.014 SG | ||||
| Recipe Bitterness | 30.3 IBUs (Rager) | Alcohol by Volume | 5.1 % | ||||
| BU : GU | 0.576 | ||||||
| Recipe Color | 14.1 SRM |
|
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| Measured OG: | 1.051 | Measured FG: | 1.012 | ||||
| ADF: | 75.7 | Measured ABV: | 5.1 |
Ingredients
| Amt | Name | Type | # | %/IBU | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 lbs | Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM) | Grain | 1 | 88.9 % | 0.86 gal |
| 12.0 oz | Carared (20.0 SRM) | Grain | 2 | 6.1 % | 0.06 gal |
| 6.0 oz | Chocolate Rye Malt (250.0 SRM) | Grain | 3 | 3.0 % | 0.03 gal |
| 4.0 oz | Crystal, Medium (Simpsons) (55.0 SRM) | Grain | 4 | 2.0 % | 0.02 gal |
| 0.500 oz | Columbus (Tomahawk) [15.60 %] - Boil 30.0 min | Hop | 5 | 15.5 IBUs | - |
| 1.00 Items | Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) | Fining | 6 | - | - |
| 1.00 tsp | Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 mins) | Other | 7 | - | - |
| 1.000 oz | Centennial [11.10 %] - Boil 5.0 min | Hop | 8 | 7.2 IBUs | - |
| 1.000 oz | Citra [11.70 %] - Boil 5.0 min | Hop | 9 | 7.6 IBUs | - |
| 1.0 pkg | Irish Ale Yeast (White Labs #WLP004) | Yeast | 10 | - | - |
Mash Profile
| Name | Description | Step Temperature | Step Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saccharification | Add 31.40 qt of water at 159.1 F | 152.0 F | 45 min |
| Heat | Heat to 158.0 F over 10 min | 158.0 F | 15 min |
| Mash Out | Heat to 170.0 F over 7 min | 170.0 F | 10 min |
If steeping, remove grains,
and prepare to boil wort
Pitch as close to 60 F as possible. Keep temp below 65 for 2 days, then let it warm up to room temp (but lower than 72)
Ferment about 2 weeks.
Force carbonate to 2.5 volumes. Condition to taste.
Brewing Record
| Brew Date: | Strike Temp: | |||||
| Mash Temps: | ||||||
| Pre-boil OG | (1.048 SG) | Pre-boil Vol | (6.94 gal) | |||
| Actual Mash Efficiency | Pitch Temp | |||||
| Fermentation | ||||||
| Day 1: | ||||||
| Day ... | ||||||
| Day ... | ||||||
12/8/2016 Bought ingredients today.
12/9/2016 Making the starter today.
12/11/2016 Brew day today. Everything went well. OG right on plan. I love it when a plan comes together.
12/12/2016 Yeast active this morning 60F.
12/13/2016 Going well. 64F.
12/23/2016 Just waiting on a free keg. I think I'm close on Cubs Win!
1/4/2017 Finally Kegged. 1.012 fg puts this beer at 5.5% abv... Exacly as planned. Sample nice and hoppy without too much bitterness. Perfect American Red Ale.
1/13/2017 Poured pint from the keg. Love how it tastes, but needs carbonation and needs to clarify a bit.
1/20/2017 Nice beer. Carbonation is where I want it.
2/10/2017 Killed the keg filling a growler. This came as a surprise.